


(How Could Someone) Mislead You At All

by Tricochet



Series: FlashVibe Week 2018 [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, FlashVibe Week, FlashVibe Week 2018, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 21:13:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15590838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tricochet/pseuds/Tricochet
Summary: Months after telling Iris about a made-up boyfriend who might be modeled after his hot neighbor, Barry has to deal with Cisco and Iris meeting.





	(How Could Someone) Mislead You At All

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [little white lies](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13063173) by [djchika](https://archiveofourown.org/users/djchika/pseuds/djchika). 



> This is the first part of my FlashVibe week 2018 challenge, written for the prompt Neighbors/Roommates AU! It was inspired by a random fic I found while looking through neighbor AUs.

Barry had never meant for it to turn into this. He figured one lie to Iris wouldn’t hurt. It’d just be long enough for her to stop feeling bad and trying to set him up with every man and woman in town, and then he could make up a sad breakup story when it was necessary. She’d be none the wiser. 

“I’m so excited to get married!” Iris was saying excitedly. “Eddie is going to be such a great husband.”

Barry nodded. “Yeah. I already have my best man speech ready.”

Iris smiled. “You know, I have a coworker you might like. Her name’s Linda, and she’s really pretty. She’ll be at the wedding, but I could introduce you before if you want.”

Barry shook his head and lied. “No, it’s okay. I actually have a date tonight. We’re going to a virtual reality arcade.”

She wanted to know everything about it, of course, so he worked himself more and more into the deception. She’d asked what he was wearing, so he showed her his nicest shirt. Afterwords, she’d asked all about the guy. 

“He’s really cute,” Barry said. “He’s short and totally adorable. He’s also really into nerdy stuff. He’s a huge Star Trek fan.”

“Aww,” Iris told him. “Congratulations.”

Barry smiled and nodded at her. He yawned, then his eyes snapped open, hit with the realization that he’d been describing his hot neighbor. If Iris ever saw Cisco’s perfect hair and dimples, she’d figure it out. And then he’d be screwed. 

Three months later, Barry still feels like a creep. The falsehood had started from pure desperation with a splash of inspiration, courtesy of Cisco. But it hadn’t stopped growing into a rickety structure of bullshit, held together by lies and prayers. It wouldn’t be hard at all for Iris to figure out he’s lying if he said even one wrong statement. 

 

 

Cisco looks at his creation. The pie looks good enough for him to eat, but he’s not sure about giving it to Barry. From the number of food delivery cars at his house every day, it wasn’t hard to tell that Barry liked eating. Maybe he was a food critic who’d think Cisco’s cherry pie is nasty. 

Cisco shakes his head and sprinkles a little more powdered sugar on the pie. He looks in the mirror and remembers to take his apron off. The ‘Kiss the Cook’ spelled across the chest might be a little obvious. His Bulbasaur shirt has a few crumbs and cherry stains on it, but Cisco deems it presentable enough. 

He carefully lifts the pie and walks over to Barry’s door. He’s preparing his speech. He’ll say something about how he just wants to be a good neighbor and he has no other motivations. Maybe he’ll add a reason why he’s giving it to Barry specifically. 

Cisco’s pausing outside, thinking about how to say that he ‘accidentally’ baked an extra pie, and he was just wondering if Barry would like to have it. 

“Hi!” a woman says. “I’m Iris. Barry’s sister. You’re Cisco, right?”

Cisco nods, totally unaware of how she’s heard of him. 

“Barry hasn’t stopped talking about you since you started dating, what was that, three months ago?”

Cisco doesn’t say anything, since he has no clue what she’s talking about. He just nods. 

“Aw, is that pie for him?”

“Yeah. I just baked it.”

Iris rings the doorbell. 

 

 

Barry opens the door. Iris runs across the threshold and hugs Barry. His heart stops when he sees Cisco standing behind her. 

He’s not sure exactly what to say to Cisco. “Hi, I’ve been describing you to my sister because I needed her to think I was dating someone and she thinks you’re my boyfriend. But you’re just my neighbor. I mean, I wouldn’t have a problem with you being my boyfriend. You’re really cute, and you came over and brought me cookies when I moved in, but I just blushed because you had a Star Trek shirt on and I think I scared you away by eating all the cookies in ten seconds.”

Barry hugs Iris back, looking at Cisco over her shoulder. Cisco is watching with a look of amusement. Barry makes eye contact and makes a wincing gesture. Cisco snorts. He’s already sat down on Barry’s couch, curled up a little bit like a cat. 

“You didn’t tell me he was gorgeous. Well, you did, but to be honest, I thought you were making him up,” Iris whispers, not very quietly. 

Barry laughs uncomfortably. Cisco snorts again. 

“I made you a pie,” Cisco says. “Cherry.”

“Thank you so much,” Barry says. Iris releases him and sits next to Cisco. 

“So, Barry, how come you’ve never introduced me to your boyfriend before?” Iris asks conversationally. Barry prays that Cisco will play along.

“I travel a lot for work. I’m an engineer, and I’m always looking at new tech in Japan,” Cisco says. He’s clearly trying not to laugh. Barry can’t believe Cisco is covering for him.

“Oh, cool!” Iris says. “I think Barry mentioned that once or twice.”

Cisco flutters his eyelashes at Barry. His simper is so over-the-top that Barry has to bite his lip to keep from laughing. “You talk about me a lot?”

“Yeah, he really does,” Iris says. Barry wishes the floor would devour him and put him out of his misery. 

“Hey, how about we have some pie?” Barry says, thinking as quickly as he can. 

“Sure. I’ll help you,” Cisco says. He stands up. 

Barry leads him into the kitchen and grabs plates. Cisco opens the freezer and rifles through Barry’s kitchen drawers until he finds the ice cream scooper. 

Barry cuts the pie. “So, uh, I’m sorry about this whole situation. Iris just- I told her I had a boyfriend so she’d stop trying to set me up with potential plus-ones for her wedding and she kept asking me for details and I wanted to make sure everything stayed so I kind of described you- I know it’s creepy-”

Cisco looks amused. 

 

 

Cisco watches Barry hop from foot to foot. He looks so scared that Cisco will smack him. He’s adorable. 

“Hey, it’s endearing,” Cisco says. “I mean, it’s kind of sad, but it’s cute.”

Barry stares at Cisco like he’s still expecting a slap. 

“So, you told your sister I was hot?”

“Uh, yeah,” Barry says. He’s staring at the ground and turning progressively redder. “I mean, you are. I kind of started describing my ideal boyfriend, and then I realized that I was kind of modeling my fake boyfriend after you.”

Barry covers his mouth with his hand. He looks mortified.

Cisco laughs. “Really? Me?”

“Why not?” Barry says. 

Cisco chews his lip and sets the ice cream scooper down. 

“You know, I think you’re hot too,” Cisco whispers. 

Barry looks so shocked that Cisco can’t help but lean in to kiss him. Barry makes a surprised noise and sets the plate down. He moves his hand behind Cisco’s back.

“Wait, you’re actually dating?” Iris says from the doorway. “I thought for sure you were making that up.”

Cisco pulls back. 

“Iris!” Barry grumbles.

“Hey, all I wanted was a slice of pie,” Iris says. “If you aren’t going to eat it, I will.”

She grabs a plate and leaves the room. 

“She can never find out the truth,” Barry says. Cisco nods. 

“So, what dates have you told Iris we went on?” Cisco asks.

“Our first date was a virtual reality place. Then we went to the park. We’ve also gone to three tech conferences and had seven Star Trek marathons.” 

Cisco picks up a piece of pie and squeezes Barry’s hand. “Well, once Iris leaves, seems like we have a lot of time to catch up on.”

Barry smiles. “I think we do.”


End file.
